shortbus4x4
Expedition Leader
Saw your for sale ad. Good to see you're still going. Improvise, adapt, and overcome. Looking forward to reading about your travels soon.
Two year circumnaviagtion of Africa in my 2007 JKUR - The Road Chose Me
- Thread starter Dan Grec
- Start date
KlausVanWinkle
Explorer
Sorry to hear about your rig. Seeing what you did with a stockish JKUR was inspiring. I've had similar things happen to my land cruisers in the past. It's a huge suck. But as you and others have said, don't let it keep you down. You'll still be in Africa in no time with a better rig and invaluable knowledge others will never know until something like this happens to them.
I'm sure this would be a great project for someone. Best of luck.
I'm sure this would be a great project for someone. Best of luck.
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Sorry to hear all this, Dan. When you end up coming to Africa, plan a few days stopover in Jinja. Drinks on me and you can have access to all of my tools to get caught up on any maintenance/repairs. If you want to use it as a checkpoint, ship some parts here to be waiting for you, less to carry in the Jeep.
Tembo
topless adventures
Looks like a fun trip! Sorry to hear about the engine swap failure. But yes, I run an old Land Rover with a little 2.5L non-turbo diesel engine...no electronics. I wouldn't want anything more complicated. I was curious about your route. The London to Cape Town drive used to be an overland standard but not many (read 'virtually no one') are doing it anymore. But the western route is still possible and would be a interesting challenge. You can't get across North Africa at present. Algeria and Morocco have no open border crossings...you have to ferry to Spain or Italy and then ferry back to the other side of the border. Libya is just a no-go at the moment. Egypt can still be done but check on the carnet costs, they used to be truly stupid. So you could run a truly amazing adventure all the way from Morocco, down the west coast and up the east coast at least as far as Ethiopia (which is a great place). Beyond that it would get a bit challenging. Looking forward to hear how the plan progresses...
The way I look at all of this is, just keep the vehicle stock drivetrain wise. I have 189,000 on my 2011 JKU and NEVER had an electrical glitch once. Everything down to my power windows work perfectly. I think people are over thinking WAY to much since the internet came to be. If there was no internet, people would just get a Jeep, and go. Glad your still going. Just get another JK, beef up the suspension to carry the weight of your gear, Drive and enjoy. Do your trip, come back with TONS of photos, videos and memories!
Dan Grec
Expedition Leader
Thank you for the very kind offer. I will for sure look you up when the tie comes, I am immensely looking forward to Uganda.
I took a bone stock Jeep for Alaska->Argentina and it never let me down once. It was the perfect vehicle for the job.
Why I didn't just do that again is something I've been wondering for a while now.
The new plan is to do exactly as you said, I'm on the hunt for a replacement JKUR now. If anyone has any leads, I would be forever grateful.
-Dan
there are a bunch around if you look. And really....you don't need a rubi. For the type of travel, any JKU will work perfect. There is a 2012 sahara unlimited here for 28k Canadian.....awesome deal. it only has 26,000 kms on it..If you think you need more traction, pop in two true tracs and call er a day. you won't be doing any wheels in the air type driving so that should be a great in expensive route. add a spacer lift, air bags in the rear and some 33s and your done. stone cold reliable and super capable.
Ask me how I know!:sombrero:
Ask me how I know!:sombrero:
Dan Grec
Expedition Leader
I want a Rubi primarily for the higher payload that comes with the front D44, the lockers, and the 4.10s - all things that would be very expensive to add to a sport/sahara
I almost bought a 2012 Rubi, but I don't have enough money anymore, so I'll be getting an older one - likely 2007-20010 or so
-Dan
Just so you know, the rubicon has the least payload carrying out of any Jeep wrangler. The D44/lockers/4.10 have nothing to do with payload. again, D 44 is no issue if your not running 37's as the tubes and exterior of the front axle are exactly the same. 4.10 will give your worse gas milage. 3.73 would be a better ratio for your trip, with the 3.8. and lockers, just pop in true tracs in the D30 and your good to go.
Dan Grec
Expedition Leader
My understanding is the Rubicon has the highest GVWR of any JK.
I'm not at mine right now, but I know I've looked at the door plate in the past and it's higher than a non-rubi JK.
-Dan
Viggen
Just here...
They makes sense. Softer suspension equals more flex. Softer suspension equals lower payload usually
Except that the Rubicon gets the highest rated springs. So go figure. Although Chrysler's website has been known to be wrong, I mean obvious type of wrong. LOL